My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 5
Regardless of the real Cecilia’s actual personality, I spat out the title I used to bestow upon my immature younger brother without hesitation.
Knox, as if such aggressive language wasn’t even surprising, finally let go of my hand and stepped back.
“Ta-da. All better now. See? Your oppa is the only one you can count on, right?”
He actually had the nerve to spout that nonsense.
‘Seeing as he isn’t surprised, I guess the original Cecilia’s attitude was similar to mine now.’
I suppose siblings are siblings everywhere.
‘So much for the romantic-fantasy-style oppa.’
The idea of siblings being affectionate in the first place—nothing could be more skin-crawling.
“Move if you’re just going to keep talking rubbish.”
Cecilia, flipping her attitude like a palm, brushed past him and entered the dining room.
Seated at the head of a dining table that was unnecessarily long was Patrick, the head of the Marquis Weberdin family, who possessed the same blonde hair as the siblings.
As Cecilia took the empty seat on his right, the Marquis spoke up as if he had been waiting.
“You and your brother seemed to be greeting each other for quite a while.”
It seemed he had overheard all the nonsense I exchanged with Knox.
“I’m sorry. That—I mean, my orabeoni wouldn’t let go of my head.”
“……Your head?”
The Marquis cleared his throat lightly and asked after her well-being.
“Ahem! Anyway, I heard you’ve been taking frequent walks lately. Is your body alright? No unusual symptoms?”
Considering how severely she had suffered from the fever, the Marquis checked on her health like this whenever they crossed paths in the vast mansion.
“Yes, I feel perfectly fine.”
Cecilia’s ‘body’ was indeed fine, so it wasn’t a lie.
“It’s quite a regret—I mean, a relief that she’s sturdier than expected.”
Knox, who had followed her in, casually added as he took his seat on the left.
“Knox.”
The Marquis gave his shrugging son a brief glare before turning his head back to Cecilia.
“That is good to hear.”
Within his calm voice, a heavy affection for his daughter could be felt.
‘Ah.’
For a moment, my mouth felt dry and gritty, as if I had swallowed sand.
Because the person in front of him right now wasn’t his cherished daughter, but merely a stranger from another world.
At first, I had trembled with anxiety solely out of fear that my identity would be discovered.
Since I didn’t know Cecilia’s original personality, I had no choice but to keep my distance and act vaguely.
Yet, when not a single doubt was raised, a subtle discomfort grew instead.
It felt somewhat like guilt.
‘I’ll try to find a way to get out of your daughter’s body soon.’
I swallowed an apology I couldn’t dare utter.
While Cecilia lowered her head and ruthlessly crushed the greens served as an appetizer out of her complicated feelings, the Marquis continued his conversation with Knox.
“Is the Capital the same as ever?”
“Yes. Still a bloodbath.”
“And the approval?”
Whatever this ‘approval’ was, Knox frowned slightly for the first time.
“I made the request, but it was rejected. His Majesty said that if the party involved wants approval, they must come up to the Imperial Capital themselves.”
“Ha, it seems His Majesty wants to engage in a pointless war of nerves. My head already aches thinking about how those Delanche bastards will act up.”
Patrick, seemingly having lost his appetite, clicked his tongue in displeasure as he set down his knife and fork.
‘Delanche? And approval……? Does he mean approval related to the successor?’
Cecilia, listening quietly, abruptly stopped her fork.
Though she still didn’t know much about this place, according to the various things she had investigated while looking for a way back, the Imperial Family and the Temple were currently in a state of confrontation.
Therefore, the ‘Weberdin’ family, a divine house, was naturally on bad terms with the Imperial Family.
‘So the Imperial Family shouldn’t be able to interfere in the selection of Weberdin’s successor?’
Just then, the Marquis, who was pressing his temples as if he had a headache, spoke.
“Cecilia.”
“Yes?”
Cecilia, who had been lost in thought, snapped her head up.
Before she knew it, two pairs of eyes were fixed on her.
“There is less than a month left until this year’s Relief Festival……. This time, you must attend in the name of Weberdin.”
“Pardon?”
The Relief Festival was an annual event hosted by the Temple; it was a large-scale volunteer activity where they opened the Temple’s granaries to feed the hungry, and priests directly treated the sick.
As it was counted as the biggest event after the Foundation Day, the attendance of the ‘Saintess,’ who was essentially the face of the Temple, was mandatory.
I understood that I had to participate in the Relief Festival since I had recovered my health, but I couldn’t understand why that topic was suddenly being brought up.
Above all…….
“You mean I’m not attending as the Saintess?”
To attend in the name of Weberdin instead of the Saintess.
When she asked back in bewilderment, Knox let out a shallow sigh.
“I told you, I couldn’t get the approval.”
“Approval?”
“Cecilia, it means that for you to be officially approved as the Saintess, you must go to the Imperial Capital and see His Majesty yourself.”
‘What?’
Cecilia doubted her ears.
‘To be officially approved as the Saintess.’ Doesn’t that sound like I’m not the Saintess right now?
“So, what you’re saying is that right now, I’m technically not the Saintess?”
When she asked hesitantly at the shocking news, the Marquis nodded immediately as if she were asking something very obvious.
“It is displeasing, but for now, that is the case.”
Clang!
The fork finally slipped from Cecilia’s hand.
No, what are you talking about, Lord Marquis! You’re saying I’m a fake Saintess?!
“I’m a fake…….”
After the meal ended awkwardly, Cecilia trudged through the garden like someone who had lost something very important.
Her walking mate, Charles, rubbed against her feet to offer comfort, but it didn’t reach her at all.
It wasn’t that she had any lingering attachment to the authority or position of a Saintess, but…….
‘Then why did I live locked up all this time?!’
Above all, the fact that Cecilia was a ‘fake Saintess’ was quite shocking in itself.
‘Then they shouldn’t have called me Saintess in the first place!’
The moment Cecilia realized she was the Saintess was right after she had gone through Plan B and C.
For reference, Plan B was repeatedly falling asleep without leaving the bed until she woke up from this long pipe dream, and Plan C was giving her head a strong impact.
After proceeding through Plan B to C, a priest was naturally brought before her.
[The Saintess injured her head?]
[Yes, it is very serious.]
[Hmm, the skin is torn, but it is not a severe wound. As expected of one who receives God’s protection, even after suffering an accident……]
[She struck her own head with a stone.]
[Oh, heavens!]
And that was to treat both the inside and outside of my head.
[If a scar were to remain on the Saintess’s precious body, God would be deeply saddened.]
Since a string of priests had come and poured out such nagging…….
‘Naturally, I thought I was the real Saintess.’
The reason I was certain the genre was romantic fantasy, if the book possession theory was correct, was precisely because of this position.
‘But regarding the fact that I was a fake.’
Upon interrogating Melanie, she heard that if someone with outstanding Divine Power did not appear, the title of ‘Saintess’ was given to the eldest daughter of the Weberdin family, the divine house that had supported the Temple for generations.
After that, she would be officially appointed as the Saintess only after receiving the Emperor’s approval.
[Since a person surpassing the Divine Power of the Weberdin family hasn’t appeared for three generations, you will surely become the Saintess this time too, Cecilia-nim!]
Melanie had guaranteed it, but Cecilia was actually skeptical.
In novels with this kind of setting, the real Saintess always appeared later!
“Then is the real Saintess the protagonist?”
Cecilia, lost in deep thought, let out a short exclamation of realization.
“Ha, I guess I really am the protagonist.”
Isn’t the ‘possessing a villainess’ trope the trend these days?!
It might be the kind of story where a fake Saintess who was possessed does this and that for her own safety before the real Saintess appears, eventually becoming the true protagonist.
‘Anyway, if it really is a book possession, I might be able to go back once I see the ending.’
Her confusion was brief; Cecilia quickly established a new hypothesis and Plan E.
In the first place, Plan D was to enjoy herself ‘until she returned.’
In other words, it was better to have as many new plans to return as possible.
However, there was a huge wall in Plan E, which was to see the ending of the story.
‘The problem is my completely empty head.’
How nice would it have been if Cecilia’s memories had been patched in along with the language patch.
A trip to the Capital was indispensable to progress the story, but the problem was that she was a complete novice at etiquette and dancing.
A prince-like figure who perfectly leads a protagonist who can’t dance is just a fairy tale story; it was obvious she would be dragged around awkwardly and looked down upon by her partner and the surrounding nobles.
‘It’ll become the most useless knowledge since the folk dance I learned for the talent show back in kindergarten, but it can’t be helped.’
I had no choice but to ask the Marquis to find me a tutor.
“To think I have to study even here…….”
And it was knowledge that would be absolutely useless once she returned to reality, like noble greetings or social dancing.
It was while she was continuing her pointless and meaningless lamentation.
“Nya!”
Charles, who had been trotting a step ahead, gave a small cry to catch her attention.
“Charles?”
Then, as if to show off, he turned toward a familiar direction.
Cecilia, guessing where the small paw prints would lead, belatedly reached out her hand.
“Charles! You can’t go over there today!”
The excited mood about a picnic or whatever had evaporated long ago.
Above all, perhaps because it was right after she felt the impact of the reality she had to face, she wasn’t in the mood for any nonsense.
However, Charles, flaunting his unnecessarily brilliant intelligence, disappeared with a swish of his tail.
Right toward where the dog hole was.
